Unions
by Epsilon Zeta
Summary: Crossover Tamers02VTamer with Saver and OC cameos. After almost a year after the completion of 'Ascension', the Rukato wedding epilogue has arrived. Part 4: Dreams and Rehearsals
1. The Hell that is Wedding Planning

Author's Notes: Having access to the Superman wedding comic released a decade ago (or so) and attending a friend's wedding in real life in the past summer, I think I should be able to wrap this up nicely. Sorry for the long wait… a lot of things bogged me down.

Disclaimer: I'm just writing this story purely for fun. If I do get contacted from the owners of Digimon telling me to take this down, I'll do so right away.

**Unions **

Part 1: The Hell that is Wedding Planning (and other minor pains)

"If you want my advice, sweetie…"

How many times had Rika heard those words from her mother? If she had been paid 100 Yen for each time she heard that phrase, she would be filthy rich.

It started with the announcement of the engagement and subsequent congratulations from their friends and family. Some of the male members of the DTF gave their condolences to Takato after they saw the 'love tap' that their commanding officer left on his head but they meant it in good jest.

Then came the planning… and this is perhaps one of the more trying aspects of having a formal wedding. How many guests to invite (both human and Digimon), what type of ceremony to go for, the location to hold the ceremony, the location for the reception, details for the reception and ceremony… it seemed like a list that would never end.

Every spare hour awake and out of work was spent on planning. The cost of the wedding would be covered by her mother as part of her wedding gift (although Terriermon would look more of it as a dowry so that Takato would be happy to take Rika off her hands). The other part of the gift would be to pass on the deed of the home that the bride-to-be had lived in for as long as she could remember. Rika tried to refuse the deed but her mother insisted on passing it on. She had intended to pass the deed over to her daughter on the day that she was ready to start her own life with her own family.

The parents of the groom-to-be wanted to contribute in their own way and so they sat down one day to start working on a grand wedding cake. Of course, the actual baking won't be done until the wedding day but they could at least figure out what type of cake to go for, what ingredients would be needed, special cake designs and layers and so forth.

When it came down to figuring out what would work best for wedding details like the dress and the flowers used for the bouquet, Rumiko had repeatedly offered advice on those matters, even though she had not married herself. The older woman's daughter tried to take the polite path by letting her chat away on some areas. Eventually, she started trying to turn her mother down gently but then the guilt act would commence. Basically, her mother would get all depressed and Rika would feel bad about not letting her mother give her a perfect wedding.

So she had to stretch her reserves of patience to new levels which is somewhat of a miracle by itself. Her grandmother and Renamon tried to distract Rumiko's attention once in a while to give her breathing room but she would simply go back to looking up more information and giving suggestions for the wedding. "I think that the reception hall should have roses."

Rika started to wonder if it was a mistake deciding to go for a Western style ceremony rather than a traditional Shinto ceremony. "Mom, I don't think that the roses will fit in the atmosphere here."

"What about lilies? I saw this lovely arrangement at a colleague's engagement party a few weeks ago…" Rumiko trailed off after noticing the irritated look on her daughter's face. "Well, what would you like to go for? This is after all your wedding and your decision. I do hope that your fiancé gets a say in this as well."

"He's willing to check some things out once we have a reception hall to actually decorate. I told you that we should have settled that detail first but you just wanted to go looking into dresses, catering and flowers right away. Grandma's checking out the locations that I like so far so at least that's settled for now."

Rumiko sighed. "I suppose that's alright. Now as for what type of food to serve…"

At that moment, Renamon phased into view. "If I may offer a suggestion, I recommend getting Thai. The guests would certainly be in the mood for cuisine that isn't as bland as traditional Japanese food."

Both women simply glared at the fox Digimon, not even caring about why she had dropped by. **"Are you crazy? Renamon, this is the only wedding…"**

"She's…" "I'm…"

"… **going to have and I want it to be perfect!"**

Renamon simply blinked at how strange the two women sounded when speaking in sync with each other. She couldn't understand why they didn't really like Thai but she figured that it must be Japanese conservatism speaking. "Why are you here, Renamon?"

"You wanted me to remind you when it was three in the afternoon, Rika."

The young woman glanced at the clock. "It's time already? Damn… let's get the dress fitting done and over with!"

It only took the mother and daughter duo ten minutes to get ready and leave the house to go down to the dress shop. When Renamon felt that they were well on their way, she headed back to the meeting point that had been arranged by the eldest female member of the household. "They're gone."

"Then let's get to work!" The elder woman pressed a button to let the other members of her team know that 'Operation: Bridal Shower' was ready to proceed. Within two minutes, four cars and thirteen DTF members had assembled to start putting together a little surprise for their commanding officer. Among the members was a dark skinned male who had the misfortune of being designated the 'Pack Mule' earlier. It would seem strange for him to be a part of the DTF Japanese division but he had wanted to be part of the exchange program that had been set up shortly after the American branch of the DTF finally got off the ground (which was surprisingly around the time that his commanding officer received the marriage proposal six months ago).

"Why did I agree to be a part of this again?" complained the young man.

"Because you're the big strong Gaijin, blessed with Gaijin Power! This is why your colleagues thought that you would be perfect for this! And you're too nice to say no!" replied his partner Digimon.

"Again with the Gaijin Power, BT? You're spending way too much time reading those editorials." The male grunted as he carried most of the supplies needed to throw the party. "Besides, remember the time you tried to pull off the whole Gaijin Smash thing against her?"

_He was doing his best to look confident, cocky and maintain that smirk on his face but his conscious was nagging how this was a stupid idea that is guaranteed to make a fool out of him in front of her of all people. There's no way he could back out of it now that his partner has started the Gaijin Smash speech._

"_Ha ha! As you can see, my tamer has already won this fight. In moments, he will unleash the awesome power of his Gaijin Smash. He acquired this attack when he was born with a bigger body than yours. Over the years, he developed it by maintaining a steady diet of McDonald's and by parking in the closest spaces to wherever he went when he obtained his driver's license. It's the perfect attack!"_

"…………………………………"

_BlackTerriermon started to sweat. This wasn't in the script. Shouldn't they be terrified of the Big Bad Black Gaijin and his Black Gaijin Digimon by now? This looks a bit bad._

"………_that was interesting. Now can we please get on with this little spar?" asked Rika in an impatient tone. Renamon rotated her arm briefly to warm it up._

_Scratch that. This looks really bad._

"How was I supposed to know that she had experience dealing with non-Japanese people before? It was worth a shot, DC," replied the small rabbit Digimon.

The man known as DC (who had been given that name by his friends thanks to his hardcore love of DC comic titles such as Teen Titans) simply sighed and focused on setting up. The quicker he did that, the faster he could get out of the house. After all, BT would never let up if he actually stuck around for a bridal shower.

**OOOOOOOOOO**

"I have to admit… even though those tuxedos make you look sharp, they are quite confining," complained Takato. He had tried on the tuxedo (consisting of a pair of black dress pants and a black jacket, a white dress shirt and a white tie) that he would be wearing at his wedding and was now examining himself in front of a full body mirror.

"Hey, if that woman of yours is willing to go through the trouble of wearing a wedding dress, you should be man enough to go through this. Come to think of it, she presents more of a manlier aura than you do, man."

The future groom grumbled. "Just can it, Masaru."

"Don't hate me for saying the truth," commented Daimon Masaru with a grin as an employee of the tuxedo rental shop measured his waist size with measuring tape. The young man came into Takato's life a few years back as a brash youth who solved problems with his fists. That eventually got him into trouble with the authorities. What made him fall under the DTF's jurisdiction was that an Agumon had been acting as his follower (most likely after being impressed with Masaru's 'manly' attitude). Eventually, Masaru slowly came to understand that relying solely on his fists to tackle real life is not a wise idea. Takato had played a large role in getting Masaru to understand that concept.

Henry emerged out of another booth with the tuxedo he was planning to wear wrapped up in the bundle. "So how come you're not lending your artistic talents to design a great wedding cake, man?"

"Well, that's an interesting little story…"

"_Why are you giving me such a hard time over this, Takehiro? This fruit design is simple and doesn't contain as much calories! I'm sure some of the guests would appreciate that!"_

"_Honey, this is a once in a lifetime event and we need to pull out all the stops to create a very delicious and sweet cake. Chocolate would be a much better choice of design!"_

_The red Digimon watching the couple bicker in the bakery's kitchen decided to pitch in his own idea. "Ooh!! I got it! A Black Forest Guilmon cake! There's a bit of chocolate and fruit in there too!"_

"_**Are you crazy? Guilmon, this is the only wedding my son is going to have and I want it to be perfect!"**_

_The combined glares given at Takato's partner caused him to slowly back off. "S-scary…"_

Henry gave a good laugh as Takato finished his tale. "So that's what happened? No wonder Guilmon avoided the bakery for a day! What did your parents decide on for a cake design in the end?"

"Dunno. They're telling me it's a surprise. Speaking of surprises, where are Kazu and Kenta? Shouldn't they be here getting fitted too? Knowing my luck, they'll probably be wearing Batman bowties at my wedding."

The Chinese tamer realized something as his friend mentioned bowties. "That reminds me… how much would it cost to get a custom fit bowtie for our Digimon?"

**OOOOOOOOOO**

The trip didn't take as long as she had thought. Only fifty minutes for total travel time and the actual fittings themselves. "I have to admit that the dress you picked doesn't look so bad. It's kind of dignified."

Rumiko opened the door to the household and stepped inside. "Well, I've always known a thing or two about fashion and that dress definitely suited you. You can place the dress in the living room while I put my coat away."

As soon as Rika stepped into the living room, she was greeted as her colleagues, a few Digimon and her grandma all shouted "SURPRISE!"

Her face was one of absolute shock and she didn't snap out of it until she heard some clicks go off with the party members taking pictures with their digital cameras and cell phones to cement the moment. "What's all this?"

"It's your bridal shower!" echoed two small Digimon in armour known as PawnChessmon. One was in black armour and the other was in white.

DC spoke up next. "And I believe that's my cue to exit. Have fun, ladies!"

"Excuse me but if I recall correctly, you're the designated Pack Mule. We'll need your help to clean up later!" exclaimed a Lalamon who was the partner of one of the party attendees.

The young man simply held up his cell phone. "Just call me whenever you're done. It'll take a while anyway and to be honest, it would feel awkward for me to be part of a bridal shower."

"Besides, he wants to salvage what's left of his manliness after that horrid first impression against the boss lady," piped up BlackTerriermon.

"That impression was your idea in the first place!"

"If you were more of a man, you could have come up with something better and more dignifying than what I suggested!"

"Well excuse me for not being super suave and stylish like James Bond!" DC didn't want to have this petty argument in the house so he quickly headed out to the streets to explore the city for a bit since he hardly had the time to do so during his time in Japan.

During his stroll, people would often stop and gawk at him for a few moments. It wasn't often that a foreigner walked the streets, especially a foreigner with an actual Digimon accompanying him. "Seriously, why do you always have to insult me like that?"

The small Digimon felt a little guilty at hearing his tamer's dejected tone. "I'm not really insulting you but it's just that you overreact to certain things which makes me look bad. When a Digimon partners up with a human, each partner's actions has effects on how people view the duo. Take me for example. By being a humorous, witty and strong character, people will view you to have similar characteristics. If you want another example, look at the chemistry that the boss lady and Renamon have."

"Okay… so what's wrong with me?"

"You took your last relationship too seriously and now whenever I mention your old girlfriend's name or nickname, you basically act like Brock from Pokémon whenever someone mentions the name Ivy to him. You're not quite as pathetic but still…"

"Really?"

"D-chan," mentioned BlackTerriermon in a flat tone.

He stopped and brought both his hands to his forehead. "ARGH!!!" More people stopped and stared at him.

"Momentai! Anyways, I can see a bookstore up ahead a few blocks. If we're lucky, we can get something for you there that can help you out with the stuff that I mentioned."

He got over the reminder of D-chan fairly quickly and resumed his walk. "Like what?"

"Ever heard of 'The Alphabet of Manliness'? It should be enlightening reading material…"

"Don't tell me that you staged that whole conversation back there so you can have a legitimate excuse to buy that book…" DC made a sharp left turn to enter the bookstore that his partner had pointed out earlier. "Besides, it's doubtful that Japanese bookstores would carry foreign books in stock so easily."

There were multiple aisles of books with sections for textbooks, guidebooks, novels and manga. As the duo browsed through the shelves, they ran into another DTF colleague, a young Chinese man in glasses, who was leafing through a novel. He wore a military uniform much like DC's except his rank badge indicated that his ranking was of a captain class. He was cleanly shaven and he had short black hair.

The chain of command for the DTF worked similarly to the Japanese Self-Defense Force. Of course, while the JSDF separated themselves into Air, Maritime and Ground units, the numbers of the DTF were far from impressive and as such, they only needed one set of military ranks.

"Epsilon-taichou, I've got what I wanted." A strange looking Agumon came out of an aisle. He looked like a standard Agumon but had a few extra inches in height and had a pair of red battle gauntlets decorating his claws. Perhaps his most distinguishing feature is the red crystal tooth that was on his left side. He noticed their other two colleagues and nodded crisply. "Greetings, DC and BlackTerriermon."

"Hm?" The officer who went by the code name of Epsilon looked up from his book briefly. "Oh… hey, guys. Here to pick up an interesting book as well?"

"Uh… yes, sir… that is if you call 'The Alphabet of Manliness' interesting reading material," replied the dark young man.

"It's not just interesting reading material… it's unbelievably enlightening and _manly_ reading material," corrected his Digimon partner.

Their superior officer smiled. "Well, in case you're in the mood for something else, let me recommend the Gospel series. It's an interesting take on Digimon as the author uses that as a backdrop for the war between Heaven and Hell to continue."

"So… a fusion of Digimon and Spawn?" asked DC.

"More like Digimon with elements of Angel Sanctuary."

"I see. By the way, I've been meaning to ask you about how you were able to get that increase in rank so quickly. Last I recall your rank was that of a Warrant Officer," said DC as something from the past started to bug him.

"It's quite a bit of a story. I'll be more than happy to tell it to you at the party… assuming that Kazu and Kenta can secure the location."

The dark young man blinked. "What party?"

"You didn't check your e-mail this morning? It was all there," replied Epsilon.

"I was… busy. Let's leave it at that." There's no way in hell that he's going to admit that he got dragged to a bridal shower as a 'pack mule'.

"Well, I may as well fill you in. Kazu and Kenta want to set up a huge bachelor party for their buddy in a bar somewhere in the Digital World. According to their invite, there will be 'booze and a kick ass BBQ (sadly, no bikini babes)'."

"Why go for a bar in the Digital World? Are there even bars there?"

"From what I can tell, those guys really want to visit the Digital World, even if it's only one trip. This may as well be their golden opportunity to go. Besides, considering how many guys and Digimon will be attending the party, a lot of local bars are worried how badly their insurance premiums will increase if a bar brawl broke out," reasoned the Chinese man.

"And with quick-tempered humans and Digimon among the guest list, the odds of a bar fight happening are extremely high," added Agumon as Daimon Masaru easily came to mind.

"Sounds like a lot of fun… sign us both up!" piped up BlackTerriermon.

"What?!"

"Think of it this way, DC… this is a sure fire way to reassure yourself that you're still a manly man by hanging out at a bachelor party and getting involved in a bar brawl!"

He gave a loud groan. 'Proving my manliness is really starting to get troublesome…'

Well, it's almost a year later but I'm somewhat back in my Digimon groove. There will be more to come, including a more detailed explanation about the strange Agumon that DC encountered in the bookstore and the truth about how the Tamers made their initial trip to the Other Side in the first place. Until then…


	2. Party Time and Interesting Tales

Author's Notes: Here's the next part. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I'm just writing this story purely for fun. If I do get contacted from the owners of Digimon telling me to take this down, I'll do so right away.

**Unions **

Part 2: Party Time and Interesting Tales

She was absolutely bored out of her skull.

Okay… maybe not absolutely bored as she did enjoy talking with a lot of familiar faces and being able to see 'Mandy' and 'Karen' along with Hawkmon and Gatomon respectively after so many years was quite a surprise.

"_Is that really you, Yolei?"_

_The purple haired girl who wore a pair of coloured contacts simply shook her head. "Nope! It's Mandy, remember? And Karen too?" She replied with a wink as the other young woman smiled as well._

_Rika quickly shook off the awkwardness as she remembered the false names she had given to them so long ago. "Ah… right. Mandy…"_

"_Dabingo!!"_

"……………_?"_

"_Hah!! You weren't expecting me to say that now, did you?!"_

It was a bit of a funny story about how they had been able to receive their invitations in the first place…

_Gennai's library had extended far beyond his estimations and he realized that a new larger space would be needed to house the additional data. So just over a year ago, he started construction on a library extension above ground (since it was far easier to build rather than construct a new extension underground) and after months of hard work, the new data was moved into the structure and organized according to his category system. He stepped back for a moment to admire his handiwork…_

"_Look out!!"_

_CRASH_

_A look of horror replaced the proud one he had just moments before as a humanoid lion Digimon that looked like Leomon emerged from what's left of his library extension. After quickly dusting himself off, he noticed the human character and jogged up to him. "I'm sorry to have to bother you but do you know the Digidestined by any chance?"_

_Gennai could only nod mutely._

"_Ah. Then would you please deliver this to them? I would do so myself but I have my hands full with Darkdramon." He handed over a box filled with invitation cards and sand before making a run for it._

"_Giga Beam!!" A giant pink beam of energy shot downwards from the sky and tried to hit the lion Digimon but he evaded it and kept moving. Moments later, Gennai saw a blue cyborg Digimon fly through at high speeds and send the pieces of his extension all over the area._

_At a time like this, there was only one thing to do really._

"_AAAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!"_

Eventually, he did pass on the invites to the other Digidestined and while the older cast generally couldn't make it due to schedule conflicts, the younger group were able to squeeze in some time off from their normal routines to pay a visit to Azulongmon and get to the Southern Human World. Their timing was pretty nice as her mother had planned for a ladies' night out with dinner at a Planet Hollywood restaurant in Tokyo.

The turnout was pretty good with a number of close female colleagues from the DTF, some female family members and friends attending the party with their Digimon. Of course, the male Digimon would leave some space for the ladies to gossip while they stood on guard to prevent any male scum from lavishing unwanted attention on the girls.

Rika grew bored quickly of the gossip circulating around the table and went outside for a breath of fresh air. She wore a stylish blue jacket with a purple dress shirt underneath and blue dress pants along with a pair of black business shoes. "Ugh… way too much estrogen in there."

"I suppose you would rather be at the male bachelor's party?" asked Renamon in an amused tone as she phased partially into view with her head and part of her upper body hidden in the shadows.

"I bet they're having loads more fun than I am. You know, if Kari and Yolei made it, I bet Veemon's around as well. You should go talk to him."

"What's there to say?"

Her Tamer shrugged at the indifferent response. "If that's the way you want to handle it, fine. Just as long as you don't have any regrets later."

When Rika didn't hear a word from her partner, she turned around to find that the fox Digimon had vanished. She was about to head back into the restaurant when she saw Jeri just exit the doors. She gave a wide smile upon seeing the other woman. "Hi, Rika!"

The DTF Chief of Staff nodded in acknowledgement. "Jeri." How someone could really be as cheerful and energetic as her baffled her mind.

"It's been a while since we were able to just talk like this, hasn't it?" As she stepped forward, her business casual green dress ruffled a bit.

"Yeah. You have something you want to talk about?"

"Sort of… sometimes, I just wonder about things that could have been. For example… if I had more into Digimon before it all became real, would Takato have felt more comfortable around me?"

There was a visible amount of surprise in Rika's purple eyes but Jeri didn't notice as she spoke. "You know, whenever we were in school together, he always seemed a little conservative around me. In a way, it was kind of cute. I figured that one day he would be doing something great because he had that spark inside of him. Of course, I never really figured it out until…"

"_Guilmon armour-digivolve to… Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!"_

"… and after that night, I would think to myself how he had created something so special and courageous that acted as a reflection of his real self. Maybe if things had been going better for me back then, I probably would have tried to get him to be my boyfriend at the time."

"……… did you honestly love him back then?" She wasn't sure what she would do if Jeri said yes. Come to think of it, perhaps she should have asked whether she honestly loved him now.

"I don't know. I did like him a lot but too much happened and those feelings never really got a chance to be explored. Before we knew it, we got to this point. I can admit that I'm happy for him and for you too. I know you two will take care of each other," finished Jeri with a serene smile.

Rika couldn't help but feel unnerved at how open Jeri was. "Why did you share this with me?"

"I suppose I just wanted to finish dealing with issues that bothered the old me… which is ironically the young me. Now I can think of what the future has in store."

"Like a certain Chinese young man with an annoying rabbit Digimon for a partner?" asked the Digimon Queen with a grin.

The red look on Jeri's face said it all. A few moments later, both young women were laughing heartily. After they got that out of their systems, Jeri was the first to speak again. "So what's new and exciting in the DTF?"

"Where should I start? Well, about three months ago, I ran a battle test with some Tamers who wanted to move up the ranks and got some rather interesting results…"

**OOOOOOOOOO**

Considering the amount of power that was being thrown around by the multiple Digimon involved in this battle, one would have expected that the training room would be nothing more than rubble. However, this room was specifically built with walls made of Chrome Digizoid alloy to withstand a lot of damage for higher level training purposes as Rika had specified.

At the moment, she was doing a battle administration test for two DTF agents who were trying to move up the ranks in the DTF chain of command. Both Tamers had good scores from the previous parts of the promotion examination so far so this test would be the determining factor in whether they deserve a promotion in ranks or if they should stay where they are.

The first Tamer is a young blonde girl with red eyes who simply went by the name Nanami. She preferred using a strategic approach in her fights and so far, it has paid off with good results at minimal cost. She often made good usage of the type of magic that her partner Digimon could perform since he was classified as a Magic Warrior.

Currently, he was in his ultimate form and went by the name of Mystimon. Armed with an enchanted sword that had flames coming from the hilt upwards and his crystal ball, he would be a formidable opponent indeed.

As for the second Tamer Epsilon, his involvement with a Digimon with an unusual characteristic and being able to nurture it all the way to this point played a heavy factor in allowing him to get this far in the testing since his own statistics were ordinary. The origin of his partner seemed fairly simplistic as the Digiegg had been found in a server that specialized in historic oriental data.

Had it been an ordinary Digiegg, the team that had found it would have left it alone for the Digimon to raise itself naturally in the Digital World. However, they found out that the code for the egg was a bit abnormal compared to normal Digieggs. The information was forwarded to Shibumi (who still continues to work with Zhuqiaomon on how to make the quality of life a bit better for the Digimon who inhabited this sector of the Digital World). After some thought, the Sovereign allowed the team to take the egg back to their world for careful study.

Just to explain things a bit further, not every member of the DTF is an active Tamer. Some members were people who were formerly Tamers due to a mutual separation (be it a temporary or permanent one) or a tragic ending for their Digimon. Epsilon's situation was that of the latter with a particular bad skirmish between his Kyukimon and a group of Hyogamon that was led by a Tekkamon that bio-emerged one night. By the time backup had arrived, the battle had ended and the enemy group had to retreat but Kyukimon had sustained too much damage and dissipated into data.

It was hard for him to deal with the loss, even though he tried to reason that he and his partner knew what they were getting into when they signed up as active agents. For a while, he threw himself into whatever work he could get his hands on back at his station and was later ordered by the Chief of Staff to see the in-staff counselor and find a better way to deal with the grief. It took a while to drill down to the root of his problem and it was his guilt of not being able to get his partner to digivolve to his final stage to fend off the enemy.

One must understand that because of Calumon's flighty personality, the DTF are unable to count on him as a reliable boost for digivolution. Would the guy really stick around for battles when there are leftover desserts to plunder? And he wouldn't take it so kindly if they tried to force him to become that type of resource. So it's very rare that a member of the new generation of Digimon Tamers that emerged after the infamous D-Reaper incident reaches mega level.

Epsilon had been assigned to care for the egg and report any interesting and unusual data about it from the start. When it hatched, he reported getting an unusual fresh Digimon that could only be identified as Dodomon. About two weeks after the egg hatched, the fresh Digimon had digivolved to its in-training form Dorimon. What made this Digimon so special was that it had some extra lines in its code that the DTF scientists couldn't make heads or tails of. Eventually, Dorimon became an Agumon but with some altered features.

Agumon's evolution chain stayed pretty much the same (as in Greymon and MetalGreymon) except for cosmetic differences and combat ability changes. Energy attacks were slightly weaker than the normal outputs for Greymon and MetalGreymon but overall physical stats such as speed, strength and stamina were reported around 5 to 10 percent higher than the normal versions.

The DTF scientists were hoping that a duel against a powerful opponent would be able to trigger an observable reaction in the strange code and that factor also played in how Epsilon was able to move up to this point. The only reliable powerful Tamer that was amongst the DTF ranks was none other than the Chief of Staff herself, Rika Nonaka. She happily agreed to help out the scientists as going in for a battle definitely beat paperwork.

In the end, the battle test would be conducted as a two on one with Sakuyamon taking on MetalGreymon and Mystimon at once. Nanami for one was not too happy with this quick change in events as quite a number of her previously laid-out plans (based on the assumption that it would be a one on one battle test) went out the window. However, she could improvise easily. The main problem would be getting the other Tamer to do things her way as planned.

With an audience and recording equipment in place and all combatants ready, Sakuyamon lazily twirled her staff and smirked. "Whenever you're ready, come at me."

Epsilon smiled back cheerfully. "And who am I to resist an invitation from a lady? Digi Modify! Speed Activate!" With the effect in place, MetalGreymon burst forward for the initial strike. His metallic left claw quickly slammed down into the ground but hit nothing as Sakuyamon easily evaded it and prepared to make a counter.

"Spirit Strike!" Four coloured foxes emerged from the tip of her staff and flew towards MetalGreymon, striking him in the face. His metallic head did prevent the attack from causing major injuries that would impede his battle ability.

Nanami's outward expression remained blank although she was mentally cursing the other Tamer for starting off so quickly. "Mystimon, offensive maneuver Delta Two."

"Yes, my lady." Mystimon leapt into action as well while his Tamer prepared some cards.

"Epsilon, get your partner to cover mine!" ordered Nanami before she slashed a card. "Digi Modify! Crescemon's Nuova Luna Activate!" Mystimon's weapons were replaced with a pair of silver crescent blades attached to gauntlets covering both of his hands.

Sakuyamon used this chance to make an attack. "Amethyst Wind!" A fierce gust blew against the two Digimon with hundreds of tiny purple shards slashing away at their defenses. MetalGreymon moved in front of Mystimon to give better protection with his thick skin and metallic body parts.

The Magic Warrior transformed the blades into a bowgun and emerged from his cover to fire. "Dark Archery!" A projectile of dark energy erupted from the weapon, shattering all the shards within its trajectory.

"Giga Blaster!" Missiles were launched from MetalGreymon and forced Sakuyamon to put up her Crystal Sphere for protection.

The Nuova Luna blades dissipated and Mystimon got his normal weapons back. He focused on his crystal ball before calling out his next move. "Core Dart!" A miniature energy projectile was shot from the crystal ball and to Sakuyamon's surprise; it pierced her barrier to strike her in the chest. The shield shimmered due to the loss of concentration on her part.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Mystimon pressed his attack by using his sword for his next move. "Blast Fire!!" Flames burst around his magical sword as he flew in for another strike. Sakuyamon jumped back to avoid the flames and prepared to swing with her own weapon.

"Counter maneuver Beta Five!"

As soon as she made the swing, Mystimon hopped in the air to lightly bounce off the staff and get into prime position for a counter move. The flames on his weapon changed to icicles. "Blast Ice!" Three slashes later, Sakuyamon was sent into freefall motion.

"Mega Claw!!" MetalGreymon fired his left appendage towards the shaman Digimon and it connected, sending her flying to the opposite end of the arena. She quickly recovered in the air and landed gracefully on her feet. Other than a few scratches on her golden armour, she looked as fresh as a daisy.

'As expected from someone of her caliber,' thought Nanami as a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead.

"I have to admit that your combat display so far is pretty impressive," said Sakuyamon pleasantly.

Nanami slowly released her breath. "Well, your abilities are quite well known around here, madam. I've taken the time to prepare accordingly… can't say the same about him though."

"You are such a cruel lady," moaned Epsilon in a melodramatic fashion.

"Now that we're all properly warmed up, let's kick it up a notch." Sakuyamon held out her left arm and a ball of transparent blue energy appeared in the palm of her hand.

"Execute… Slide Evolution!"

Before Epsilon or Nanami could react, the blue energy ball expanded to form a wall in front of Sakuyamon. As she stepped forward, her golden armour changed into dark purple armour and her golden staff became silver instead.

"… Kuzuhamon!"

"Madam… aren't you taking this too far?!" asked one of the observers from above.

"You did want to see them up against a powerful opponent, right? Might as well pull out all the stops," said Kuzuhamon with a dark little smile. "Don't worry… I won't be deleting their Digimon and absorbing their data. Probably not worth it anyway…"

'The infamous uber-bitch mode… this could get ugly,' thought Epsilon. He snapped out of his thoughts as Kuzuhamon phased out of view and right in front of his partner's face.

"Dragon Helix!" A powerful fox spirit emerged from her silver staff and slammed itself into MetalGreymon's metallic chest. The damage was severe enough that it would prevent him from using his missiles until he changes back to Agumon and digivolves back to MetalGreymon.

'How is that type of speed possible for a Digimon of that category?!' Nanami quickly whipped out a new card that will certainly push her partner to the limit in terms of being able to handle the power. "Digi Modify! Phoenixmon's Life Force Activate!"

"Good idea but you're too slow!! Womb Mandala!" Kuzuhamon created a ring of silver energy that encircled Mystimon faster than he had expected. Upon the completion of the circle, she snapped her fingers and the circle imploded, causing Mystimon to take heavy damage and change back to his rookie form of Kotemon.

"Kotemon!" Nanami rushed over to her fallen partner and cradled the small warrior in her arms while Epsilon grabbed all the contents in his uniform right jacket pocket and started to fumble through whatever cards he had left just to give his partner a chance at survival. The same feeling of helplessness and fear that he had experienced during Kyukimon's last fight started rising up in him again.

Before he could find a card, Kuzuhamon went on the offensive again. This time, she leapt in the air and used several powerful strikes from her staff to shatter the metallic head piece that covered MetalGreymon's head. He couldn't do anything to fight back as the recoil was too much for him to handle. Within a few seconds, he was down and changed back to Agumon.

The sole mega Digimon in the room leaned on her staff casually. "I suppose I should apologize. This isn't really a fair fight. I'm just too strong for the average Digimon to handle!"

Her ego flaunting was getting on the young man's nerves but the fact is that as they were, they really had no chance against her. But he kept looking through his cards frantically just as he did on that fateful battle against the Hyogamon.

Zudomon… 'No.'

Frogmon… 'Hell no.'

Hi-Speed Plug In B… 'Useless at this point…'

He was on the edge of a mental breakdown until he spotted a small piece of paper with the artwork that his printer mysteriously printed just as his Digiegg hatched six months ago. The picture was of a pair of swords with the right one looking somewhat like a scimitar and the left looking quite jagged. The kanji written underneath read 'Kiku Rin'.

'Are these weapons for my Digimon? Can I even scan them?' He had been planning on doing more research about these weapons when he had a chance but it kept getting pushed back further into his mind as he raised his Digimon until he promptly forgot about it.

Kuzuhamon pointed her staff at the fallen Digimon. "I will only say this once. Yield."

"Don't count us out yet, bitch! Digi Modify! Kiku Rin Activate!" As soon as he slashed the paper through his Digivice, the print from the paper vanished as new data got transferred from the page to his Digivice. Then the two swords appeared in front of Agumon, who was struggling to get up. Upon seeing the new weapons, he grasped his claws firmly around their hilts and his body started to glow in sync with Epsilon's Digivice.

MATRIX XENOVOLUTION

"Agumon matrix-xenovolve to…!"

The shape of Agumon got replaced by a familiar dragon man shape such as WarGreymon but black and golden samurai armour formed around the chest, shoulders and legs instead of the standard WarGreymon armour. There were no Dramon Destroyers on his arms and he had black skin, spiked out silver hair which could be seen from the back of his helmet and golden eyes hidden underneath it. If anything, he looked like a samurai version of BlackWarGreymon minus the Brave Shield and Dramon Destroyers.

"… Gaiomon!!"

The observers were having a field day, looking up the data that the recording equipment had given them from the new burst of digivolution while down in the room, Kuzuhamon had a startled look on her face. Epsilon could only smile at that look. Even if he and Gaiomon lost, seeing that look of surprise on her face made this battle worthwhile. "Let's do this, Gaiomon!"

With a barely noticeable nod of agreement, he made the first move. "Rinkazan!!" He dashed forward to slash Kuzuhamon but she blocked the two swords with her own weapon. What she didn't know was that tracks of light were trailing the slashes of the sword and those tracks of light exploded at point blank range. She gave a shout of pain as she flew back.

Gaiomon was far from done. He placed his blades together and swung them down in a crescent formation for his next attack. "Rinkageki!!" A powerful arrow of light was released from the energy he had channeled through his blades and flew towards Kuzuhamon.

She barely dodged it in midair and landed on her feet before vanishing from sight. Seconds later, multiple clashes between the Kiku Rin and her staff were heard as Gaiomon held his own against her fast assault. Then she backed off and twirled her staff while powering up for her next attack.

"Time for a power boost! Digi Modify! Dragon DigiMemory Activate!" Gaiomon felt a new surge of energy flow through him but realized it was only temporary so he would have to make good use of it. He brought his swords together above his head and started forming a large ball of energy.

The charge up only took a few seconds as Kuzuhamon fired first. "Dragon Helix!!"

"Terra Reactor!!!"

The explosion from the collision of the two attacks practically knocked all recording equipment offline and the training room quickly filled up with smoke so that none of the observers can see. Medical personnel were being assigned to stand by in case of serious injuries to the human Tamers. When the smoke started to clear out, they could all see Kuzuhamon gripping on to her staff tightly to support her damaged body while Gaiomon slowly fell backwards and reverted back to Dorimon, his in-training form. Epsilon rushed over to retrieve his fallen partner.

"Unreal… if this were a real battle, both sides would be forced to retreat," murmured one of the observers above. Then he noticed the condition of the room and freaked out. "Look at all this damage!! How the hell are we going to cover the repair costs for this?!?"

The remaining mega Digimon slowly caught her breath and spoke. "I've got that covered. First, someone make a note to set up a formal ceremony date so their ranks can be updated in the books."

Nanami's heart skipped a beat. "You mean…?"

She stood up and slowly walked over to the Chinese Tamer who cradled Dorimon protectively. "The both of you have performed admirably. Therefore, I hereby promote Tamer Epsilon to the rank of Captain and Tamer Nanami to the rank of First Lieutenant. Considering how well they did in their first team up effort, I'm going to assign Nanami under Epsilon's command."

'Not exactly a bad outcome but what's the catch?' thought Epsilon.

"Your first assignment will be to prepare a presentation in four days for the budget committee on why we need an extra 700 billion Yen to repair this room!" said their commanding officer cheerfully before making her exit.

Had there been an Olympic event for synchronized mental cursing, Epsilon and Nanami would have easily taken the gold.

Kuzuhamon paused right before the door. "Whoops! Forgot to mention… for that slip of the tongue back there Epsilon-taichou? Three months of KP duty."

It was only after she left that he screamed in frustration. "AAARRGGHHH!!!"

**OOOOOOOOOO**

"Damn… you called the boss lady a bitch in front of her face? That takes guts, brotha!" exclaimed BlackTerriermon as Epsilon finished his story.

The Chinese young man grinned sheepishly as he sipped his cocktail. "Well, it was a spur of the moment thing. In any case, I'm glad KP duty is over. I never want to see another raw potato again!"

"Well, that's quite a story," admitted DC as he sat back to enjoy the atmosphere. Several coolers with beer were stacked in one corner of the bar (one of the first bars to open up in the Southern Section of the Digital World once the citizens started to get the concept of currency and trade) and in the outdoor patio, Papa and Mama Burgermon were cooking up a storm to feed the multiple guests that had arrived. "Xenovolution… what could that mean?"

"Man, I really hope we can get to mega form one day." BlackTerriermon quickly shook off the thought and dove into his burger. Just as he took a bite, he heard some rather arrogant chuckling as the bar's front doors were opened roughly.

Epsilon gave a light frown as he briefly analyzed the newcomers. "Is it me… or did the atmosphere in here just take a nosedive?"

End Part 2

And that's all you're getting for now. Next up… the Big Bar Brawl!


	3. Big Brawl at the Burgermon Bar

Author's Notes: Man, I'm on a roll. At least this somewhat makes up for my years of inactivity before…

Disclaimer: I'm just writing this story purely for fun. If I do get contacted from the owners of Digimon telling me to take this down, I'll do so right away.

**Unions **

Part 3: Big Brawl at the Burgermon Bar

If one were to make a bet on Takato Matsuki's bachelor party, it would not be a bet on whether or not there will be a bar fight. Rather, it would be which one is most likely to throw the first punch. With a few short-tempered men and Digimon among the party guests, somebody throwing out the first punch is inevitable. However, for this particular brawl, the trigger of the fight turned out to be the groom-to-be as he was the one to deal out the first hit.

"**GET BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD!!**"

Now as we all know, Takato Matsuki is for the most part a mild-mannered young man. In fact, it's quite baffling that a calm man like him would end up with a fireball like Rika Nonaka but that analysis is for another lengthy story. Needless to say, he doesn't lose his temper easily. So what was with the quotation mentioned before this paragraph? Well, you could easily skim down to the second half of this chapter for what happened or you can stick around to read about how things developed to get a better understanding of the situation.

**OOOOOOOOOO**

To begin, let us look at the developments of the Digital World that ran parallel alongside the human world that the Digimon Tamers resided in. Originally, it had been quite a savage environment with the simple philosophy of 'survival of the fittest'. Although that still remains a major element in the Digital World at the present, certain sections of the Digital World have begun to commercialize themselves once they got the concept of trading and businesses have begun to open up as a result. One such business was the Burgermon Bar.

Established by Great Grandpa Burgermon (according to Papa Burgermon), the bar served as the Digital World's best (and most likely only) hamburger joint. Obviously, they have expanded their menu choices beyond burgers however burgers remain their staple food item. In any case, they had the ideal set up for Kazu's Digital World Beer and BBQ Bachelor Bash party.

On the actual day of the party, Kazu found out that there were going to be additional guests and their Digimon tagging along when he went to go pick up Takato as Taichi, Davis, Ken, Cody and TK were already with him and catching up on a few things. Taichi was explaining how he would have liked to bring some of his own guests but the Alias III and Rei couldn't make it because of schedule problems. At least he had extra beer and food available to bring to the party.

Transport to the Digital World wasn't that big of an issue with the available technology used by the DTF to make trips back and forth. Of course, normally such things shouldn't be available for leisurely trips but Epsilon had been able to call in a few favours for the group to enjoy a round trip.

It was also at that time that Henry and DC gave a lecture to their respective partners about behaving for the duration of the party and the entire wedding as well. Considering how scary they can be when they're in the same room together, one couldn't blame their human Tamers. Eventually, both rabbits got so irritated and exclaimed in sync:

"**Okay, we get it already!! Momentai, will ya?!?**"

It was a brisk ten minute walk from where their transport dropped them off to where the Burgermon Bar was located (thanks to Ryo Akiyama mapping it a few months ago while he was traveling through the Digital World). The Burgermon family whipped out the grill as soon as their guests arrived and brought out their trademark burgers along with other foods to be grilled such as sausage, beef, fish and an assortment of edible foods that could be grilled in the first place.

Approximately thirty minutes into the party, a visibly drained Ryo Akiyama and Cyberdramon came through the bar's front doors and were surprised to see their friends there. "Uh… hey guys. What's up?"

Kenta gawked at the other young man's appearance. "Ryo?! What the hell happened to you?"

Ryo's traveling clothes, consisting of a pair of jeans, sneakers and a brown shirt with a red scarf on his neck, were slightly tattered and quite dirty. He also sported some facial hair on his face since he didn't really shave as much in the past two weeks. "Well, I got lost and had to make my way back to familiar territory. I knew I should have taken a left turn at the Albuquerque server! But nooooo… Cyberdramon over here wanted to go right!"

"I could have sworn that I sensed something," mumbled Cyberdramon in his defence.

"Well, how about you join us? We're having a bachelor party for chumley, right here!" exclaimed Kazu as he gave a hearty slap on the back to the groom-to-be.

"You're getting hitched?!? I keep getting kept out of the loop on things like this! Congrats on your engagement to the fireball! You do realize that if you hurt her, I'm going to line up for giving you a smack down after she's done with you," said Ryo seriously.

Takato could only smile weakly at Ryo's declaration. "Sure thing, man."

The serious look on Ryo's face vanished instantly as he grinned. "What are we standing around here for? Let's celebrate! I got a deck of playing cards with me so who's up for poker?"

And that was how things went for a little bit. Epsilon and DC had their own little corner of the bar so that the Chinese man could tell his story. Taichi and Masaru engaged in an arm wrestling contest with Zero and Chomper (which is the nickname Masaru gave to his Agumon follower) cheering on their partners. The Digimon themselves simply talked a bit while munching on the delicious grilled food that Papa and Mama Burgermon prepared. Henry and Takato had a Digimon TCG match for old time's sake with Davis trying to figure out how the game worked. Finally, Ryo's poker game went down with himself, Kazu, Kenta, TK, Cody and Ken all chipping in.

When we left off the last chapter, a rather unsavoury group had just entered the bar and Epsilon had commented about how the atmosphere took a nosedive. At the front door, eight Etemon had entered the building and split off into two single-file ranks with four Etemon each. Two more Etemon came in, rolling a red carpet for a special guest to come in. Then one of the Etemon began to speak. "Presenting his Glorious Highness… KingEtemon!!"

"Eh?!?" The humans within the group were startled at that proclamation and more startled when KingEtemon walked in like he was royalty, flanked by two MetalEtemon. Dressed with a red crown and cape, blue gloves and boots, a wrestling belt and the trademark shades of the Etemon evolution chain, the golden haired Digimon took a look around the property.

"Hey!! This is a private party! No party crashers!!" shouted Davis angrily.

"How dare you speak to his Majesty like that, boy!" Before one of the Etemon could do anything further, KingEtemon simply raised a hand to wave him off.

"Now, now… not everybody is informed about the way things run. Do not blame these ignorant fools for acting this way," said the king calmly. He then snapped his fingers and one of the MetalEtemon produced a map of the Digital World.

"Just what is the meaning of this?" asked Papa Burgermon in an upset tone.

"Shut it, old timer! His Majesty will explain momentarily!" said the other MetalEtemon.

KingEtemon grabbed a spare table and rolled out the map with highlight areas in different colours. "I'm certain you're all familiar with the concept that 'power is everything'. As you can see, that core law of the Digital World is still in effect even in the business sectors. Certain Digimon have started to band together and have started claiming territory in parts of the Digital World to expand their power base. This in turn makes life difficult for any commercial business in the area to run smoothly."

Cody frowned. 'Like the Japanese Yakuza or the Chinese Triads… too bad the Digital World has yet to properly develop the concepts of law like our world…'

"Forgive me if I'm wrong but aren't you guys doing the same thing?" asked Ken.

KingEtemon chuckled. "It may appear so on the surface but you need to look a bit deeper. What we do is provide protection for businesses from any gangs that may try to shake them down for money. Of course, a reasonable fee would be required as I do need to make sure that my followers are well compensated for their efforts."

TK knew that this couldn't mean well but chose to ask the question. "Just how much are we talking about here?"

"Well we are talking about the protection of ten Ultimate level Digimon and three mega level Digimon so I believe 65,000 Bits a month would be reasonable," replied the king without hesitating.

Mama Burgermon spoke up. "Unfortunately we aren't able to afford that type of rate. Now if you have nothing else to say, I must insist that you leave since this is a private party after all."

She felt a bit unnerved by the blank stare of KingEtemon before he snapped his fingers to have the MetalEtemon roll up the map again. "Fair enough. But a word of warning… I've heard rumours about gang movements and a number of them have mentioned your particular establishment as a potential outpost."

Masaru then butted into the conversation. "I've heard enough!! How can you live with yourselves by picking on a man who's trying to make an honest living for his family?!" He began to raise his fist and was prepared to punch some sense into the other Digimon.

"Masaru!!" The sharp shout coming from Takato's voice halted the other young man's fist. "What have I told you about using your fists to solve problems?!"

He whirled around to glare at his mentor. "Don't you understand the type of game these guys are playing?! I've seen it before and I hated it when I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it!!"

"We can take them on, aniki! Just say the word!!" shouted Chomper. He got into a battle stance while some of the Etemon chuckled in amusement.

It was Henry who stepped in this time. "The last thing we want to do is start something now. Let's just talk things over with a cool head. Now 65,000 Bits is a very high investment so do you have some quality assurance or something?"

"Yeah! Like a quote from a satisfied customer or some damn good battle statistics that proves you are the best guy for this type of job!" added Taichi.

Epsilon had taken his own Digivice out at this point and did some scans. "So far, the only information that I have on you is that your combat style is that of a professional wrestler and you use Monkey Wrench, King Monkey Wrench and Puppet Punch as your attacks. That implies you don't have something in your arsenal to deal with projectile attacks. How about telling us a bit more about yourself?"

"Ah, so lack of information is your problem… very well. I am KingEtemon, the King of Kings!! I am the eternal rival of the mighty PileVolcamon in the Digital Professional Wrestling Circuit! Last but not least, I am the newest member of the righteous Royal Knights!!" Several members of his group began to clap after that powerful introduction.

"What did you say?" asked Takato in an eerily calm tone. "Would you mind repeating your intro slowly just so that I didn't mishear anything?"

The mega Digimon sighed in exasperation before complying with the young man's request. "I am KingEtemon…"

"After that."

"The King of Kings…"

"After that."

"Eternal rival of PileVolcamon in the Digital Professional Wrestling Circuit…"

"After that."

"Newest member of the righteous Royal Knights."

While the human members of the group remained quiet, Patamon revealed his doubts. "Him a member of the Royal Knights? Dunno about that…"

"Well, the creators of Digimon have yet to name all of them. Who knows… it could be true… as unlikely as it may seem," whispered Guardromon.

Then Takato spoke up again. "If you don't mind, your Highness… can we go outside to talk about this some more? I'm sure this stale air isn't healthy for your fur."

Although his words may seem like he is sucking up to the self proclaimed King of Kings, there was a glint in his eye that promised to open a can of whoopass if he didn't hear what he wanted to hear. Daimon Masaru had seen that glint before and was careful not to open his mouth. As the Etemon group filed out with Takato and Guilmon following, Terriermon whispered to his dark counterpart. "Who would have thought all that practice appealing to his woman's ego would pay off?"

"I hear ya, brotha," agreed BlackTerriermon.

A few moments later, the Etemon group were all standing on one side of the large road that passed by the bar while the male Tamers and Digidestined with their own partners stood on the other side. Takato was the first to speak. "I believe a lack of information may be your own enemy as well, your Highness. Do you know anything about being a Royal Knight?"

KingEtemon frowned but answered the question anyway. "A Royal Knight is supposed to bring order to the Digital World and that was what I was doing back there!"

The groom-to-be narrowed his red eyes. "You are being too narrow on the matter. Let my friends explain about what a Royal Knight is about…"

"A Royal Knight fights to preserve the network security of the Digital World," started Taichi.

"They fight to uphold justice and order," continued Davis.

"They wouldn't abuse their power for personal gain," murmured Ken.

"And they are in service of the Gods of the Digital World as long as said Gods truly work to serve the interests of the Digital World. Now it seems really odd that Zhuqiaomon would be interested in the takeover of a simple burger joint and because of how absurd it sounds and how you are more interested in material gains for yourself and your lackeys, I can conclude that you are no Royal Knight." He paused for a moment as he reached into his pocket.

"W-what? Hey!!" came the weak reply from KingEtemon.

A minor bit of code started to flash in Takato's angered eyes. "What really pisses me off is how you badly you probably slandered the reputation of the Royal Knights in your journey across the Digital World to obtain wealth, power and territory. Well, it all ends here…"

"He's gonna get it!" sang Terriermon.

He whipped out his D-Ark which had its screen glowing and bursting with power. "Now let me show you what a true Royal Knight can do! Alpha Bio-Merge Activate!!"

ALPHA BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION…

"Guilmon bio-merge to…!"

The small dinosaur's red body got replaced with a humanoid figure in white armour and red shoulder plates. A red cape phased into view along his back. The Aegis shield materialized on top of his left hand while the Gram lance formed around his right hand.

"… Gallantmon!!"

This totally caught the Etemon group off guard as it could be seen by the jaws dropping on their side. As soon as the transformation finished, Gallantmon addressed the others. "You guys figure out how you want to split the rest of the group but the king is _**mine**_." His voice almost sounded like ShadowGallantmon's when he spoke that last word and his tone left no room for argument.

"Well, of course you get dibs on who you want. It's your bachelor party after all," piped up Kazu.

Gallantmon grinned underneath his helmet before teleporting right in front of KingEtemon and launching him into the air with a vicious kick. He quickly leapt off the ground and began to rotate as he pointed his lance at the other Digimon. "Sieg Saber!!"

"Your Majesty!!" cried out the Etemon and MetalEtemon still shocked on the ground. While they were all distracted, one Etemon felt someone poking his shoulder to get his attention. When he turned around, he saw a grinning Daimon Masaru before feeling a huge amount of pain in his face as the youth punched him with his fist.

As soon as his fist collided, orange code started to circulate around his hand. "All right!! This is what I'm talking about! Let's rock, Chomper!!"

"Right, aniki!!" The Agumon held out his right claw and had it tapped by Masaru's fist. With the transfer of code complete, he began his own Digivolution sequence.

"Agumon digivolve to… GeoGreymon!!"

"Um… isn't he overdoing it? You know… using that Royal Knight power on a guy like KingEtemon?" asked Ken.

"Who knows and who cares? Technically, they started it by being assholes." Taichi's own Digivice on his wrist started glowing. "Taichi…"

"Zeromaru…"

"100 COMBINATION FUSION ACTIVATE!!!"

The young man turned into a large ball of light and flew towards Zero before the dinosaur Digimon began his own evolution. His body grew larger and a pair of dragon wings sprouted on his back. Blue Digizoid armour formed around multiple areas on his body.

"… AlforceVeedramon!!" He decided to at least take on one MetalEtemon and quickly flew towards the opposition to drag his opponent to another area to fight.

Davis whipped out his blue and white D3. "Hey, Ken! You don't want to let them have all the fun, do ya?"

The former super genius glanced at Davis and sighed before taking out his own black D3. "When in Rome…"

The light of evolution shot out from their Digivices to hit both Veemon and Wormmon respectively.

"Veemon…"

"Wormmon…"

"… Mega DNA-digivolve to… Imperialdramon Paladin Mode!!" He looked around and gave a light shrug. "I guess I take the other MetalEtemon." Soon, there were only nine Etemon left with GeoGreymon gleefully taking on one of them a few feet away.

Cyberdramon had a gleeful grin as he tried to figure out which one to take first. Henry and DC got their partners to evolve to their ultimate levels of Rapidmon and SpectralRapidmon respectively. Andromon and MarineAngemon teamed up with MagnaAngemon and Cody's Brachiomon. Since there were two Etemon left for Epsilon, he didn't want to take any chances and so he took out a modify card that was especially printed for him. "Digi Modify! Kiku Rin Activate!!"

As soon as Agumon matrix-xenovolved to Gaiomon, Gallantmon's pissed off shout echoed back to the group below. "**GET BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD!!**"

Sheesh… took long enough to catch up…

**OOOOOOOOOO**

Gallantmon had to give credit where credit was due. KingEtemon really had a knack for running away and even with his Goliath Knight code enabling him to teleport and cut him off, the golden ape Digimon would be able to avoid his lance swings and his energy attacks.

"**Come on, king… why don't you let me out? I'm seriously more efficient… and since you don't want to overkill that monkey with that Crimson Mode of yours…**"

'Just can it!!' Gallantmon's right thrust was quickly deflected by the edge of the king's left boot before he flew away.

"**You know I can't go out of control… not with you being able to restrict me and all…**"

"………… fine. But no deleting… just force some data out of him so that he changes back into a weaker form. That should bring down his ego a bit. And don't traumatize him so much!!"

"**Whatever my king asks… this horse shall obey.**"

With that said Gallantmon held out the Gram lance and willed a small speck of black data to cover the tip. "Execute… Slide Evolution!"

The black data immediately spread through the lance and to the rest of his body, changing his white armour to black and his red plates, cape and helmet accessory to blue. His Aegis shield got covered in a blanket of darkness as well.

"… ShadowGallantmon!!"

His blue eyes looked around for his prey and spotted the king making yet another run for it somewhere. 'Gotcha…' He tapped into the Goliath Knight ability and quickly teleported right in front of KingEtemon. The monkey Digimon was shocked at the cosmetic change.

Wasting no time, he charged up his lance. "Judecca Prison!!" Lightning bolts were fired from the tip of his lance and created a 'prison' to surround KingEtemon. For the first time in the fight, KingEtemon used an attack.

"King Monkey Wrench!"

"………?!?" The prison dissipated on its own, leaving KingEtemon free to run away once again. "An attack to dispel other attacks? How interesting… I'm glad you still have some tricks up your sleeve. At least I can have fun a little longer. Hahahahahaha!!!!"

'What's with this guy?!?'

"Demon's Disaster!!"

KingEtemon continued to run while dodging more lighting bolts from ShadowGallantmon's shield. He turned back to quickly check on his pursuer but couldn't see anything. Before he could sigh in relief, he ran right into his adversary. "Obsidian Lance!"

"Monkey Wrench!!" This move worked similarly to his King Monkey Wrench in terms of helping to stop attacks except this move worked only for physical strikes.

ShadowGallantmon decided to try one different approach. "Spiral Wailer!!" Black energy surrounded his lance and he went in for another fast thrust. As this move had both physical and energy attack properties, neither the Monkey Wrench nor King Monkey Wrench would work 100 here.

There was no other choice but to meet it with his own attack. "Puppet Punch!!" The lance and fist collided with each other and forced both fighters back. However, KingEtemon fared worse as his arm tingled strangely.

"Heh… not too shabby for a bastard… but it ends here." The dark knight raised his left arm in the air with his shield perfectly positioned above his head. Then he unleashed a new devastating move.

"Demon's Damnation!!"

Black thunderbolts erupted from his shield and struck all sorts of directions surrounding ShadowGallantmon. KingEtemon did his best to dodge the bolts and execute his King Monkey Wrench but one bolt struck him and left his body in a painfully numb state. As he collapsed with his back on the ground, he heard the footsteps of his adversary and saw a silhouette of the knight tower over his vision.

"Well, my King did ask me to force some data out of you so consider yourself a lucky Digimon. Now… please let me know where it would be most efficient to cut by screaming as loud as you possibly can…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"_**AAAAAUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!**_"

**OOOOOOOOOO**

"Well, that takes care of that. I gotta admit that going a bit loose like that was a blast!" exclaimed DC. In the middle of the road were beaten up Etemon and the two MetalEtemon. Most of the Digimon had already transformed back to their rookie states except for Imperialdramon Paladin Mode, AlforceVeedramon and Gaiomon.

"What's taking our bachelor so long anyway?" asked Kenta. Before anyone could set out to search for the last male member of the party, ShadowGallantmon teleported into view with the former KingEtemon, now a simple Etemon, slung across his right shoulder. Imperialdramon, AlforceVeedramon and Gaiomon got into defensive stances but the dark knight simply ignored them and tossed the last Etemon into the pile before changing back into Takato and Guilmon.

"Takato?! What were you thinking of using that evolution?!?" shouted Henry in anger.

Regret filled the other man's eyes. "I… I just lost it. That guy back there practically insulted something I really believed in and… I'm p-pretty sure that if I lost it even more, I would have become Megidramon back there…" He looked at his dirty hands and shuddered. "Good lord… what have I done?"

"Hey… chill for a second. You're a really good guy and that monkey deserved what he had coming since he was an asshole in the first place… right?" asked Masaru in an uncertain tone.

"Come on… let's just get back to the bar and cool off for a bit," said Kazu as he led his friend towards the Burgermon Bar.

As the others began to shuffle back in, DC whispered near Epsilon's ear. "… He really does need her, doesn't he?"

All the Chinese Tamer could do was agree. "More than any of us will ever know."

End Part 3

Wow, the ending here turned out to be darker than what I had originally intended but I think it works out here. I may be able to get the next part out over the long weekend (Victoria Day Weekend in Canada) but I may busy myself with other things so we'll see.

Anime North 2007 is next week!! Try and find me if you can! My name badge will have my Epsilon nickname right next to my real name so if you spot me, come over and say hi! I may even reward your efforts with a pack of Pocky!


	4. Dreams and Rehearsals

Author's Notes: I actually had a large chunk of this written up shortly around May of last year. After Anime North 2007 came and went, my Digimon muse just shut down. It was only thanks to a Digimon RP that I got involved in that the muse started picking up again. So hopefully, it can stay online for a good while.

Disclaimer: I'm just writing this story purely for fun. If I do get contacted from the owners of Digimon telling me to take this down, I'll do so right away. I'm also borrowing other concepts from Norse mythology and some small stuff from Tite Kubo's _Bleach_.

**Unions **

Part 4: Dreams and Rehearsals

Every night before Takato Matsuki went to sleep; he would often give a little prayer to Amaterasu to let him have a peaceful dreamless slumber for the evening. Of course, for those who know him and have an inkling of what he has experienced, they would certainly understand that he would want to avoid experiencing nightmares of the old ghosts that had haunted him in the past.

That was only part of the truth. To clarify, Takato wouldn't mind dealing with a nightmare once in a blue moon if that was the alternative of what he had to go through every time he actually experienced a dream during his REM sleep. At times, he wondered if Rika had experienced the same thing during her own REM sleep but he doubted it. She's already used to the Digimon Queen persona while he still struggled to hold down the darker aspects of the Digital Hazard.

The first time that it happened was around a month after the sealing of Daemon and ZeedMillenniumon. To say he was caught off guard was a bit of an understatement…

**OOOOOOOOOO**

Takato honestly couldn't remember when exactly he had drifted off to sleep but he definitely recognized that he was no longer in his safe warm bed when he came to. In fact, it didn't seem that he was at home at all with his view of his bedroom in his family bakery gone and replaced by a large looming castle with multiple towers in the middle of a dark and stormy night. 'Weird…'

Before he could try and assess what's going on, black lightning bolts that came from one of the castle towers flew towards him, coinciding with a lightning bolt and clap of thunder in the background. He instinctively shielded himself and was surprised to see the Aegis shield attached on his armoured left hand. The shield kept the lightning bolts from hitting its wielder. 'So I'm in my Gallantmon form, huh? Works for me…' With a forceful jerk of his left arm, he redirected the bolts to hit a part of the stone wall built on the left of the large main door.

The knight Digimon quickly looked above at the various towers of the castle in an attempt to find out where they had been fired from. After a moment, his golden eyes were able to spot a figure in black armour and a blue cape fade into his surroundings. 'Him again?!' Knowing that standing around was going to do nothing; he dashed towards the castle and leapt over the gigantic wall to land on the other side.

The courtyard was deserted with empty stalls and dirt being the only things that were around. It was a very wide open space and he knew that by idling here, he's practically a sitting duck. But he continued to stroll casually through the space as he needed to lure the other knight out to answer some questions. Knowing him, he won't be able to resist such a tempting target…

"Obsidian Lance!"

Right on schedule… and he's coming from behind too as usual.

Gallantmon quickly sidestepped out of his dark counterpart's thrust and lunged in for his own attack. "Royal Sabre!"

The free hand that was hidden beneath ShadowGallantmon's black shield took a hold of the Gram lance and was used to throw the other Digimon several feet behind the dark knight Digimon. "Just a bit too slow there…"

As Gallantmon scrambled to his feet, he glared at his dark half. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Oh my… is that type of language appropriate for a Royal Knight of your calibre?"

The other knight's taunts didn't help matters much. "Answer the damn question!!"

"Hmph… very well. At least it would be a little more fun with you partially in the loop. First of all, how familiar are you with sleep physiology?" asked ShadowGallantmon.

"You mean stuff like REM and non-REM sleep? I did that stuff for that science project I had to work on as part of my catch-up studies. What are you getting at?"

"How I can do this…" He gestured with his lance to indicate the castle. "… in the first place. Let's start with the average amount of sleep a person needs a night which is about seven and a half hours. Non-REM sleep occurs during the first two-thirds of the sleep period while REM sleep is predominant in the final third. Dreams occur the most frequently during REM sleep. Of course, they can show up during other sleep stages but it's a lot easier to hijack the dream during REM sleep. Unfortunately, this does give me a time limit on how long I can keep you here and due to the chaotic force known as the Digital Hazard, that limit fluctuates far too much for my liking. Then there's also the fact that it doesn't always let me dream jack as much as I want since your sleep cycle isn't the most consistent…"

Gallantmon waved his lance frantically. "Wait a second!! Dream jacking?!"

"Yes. Basically, whenever you are about to have any sort of dream while you're in your REM sleep period, I can bring you here and seal you away so that I can take over your body. Took me a while to figure it out too," stated ShadowGallantmon in a simple tone. "And just to clarify something… even though this does have characteristics of a dream, the Hazard's properties basically makes trying to wake up before the REM sleep period is complete impossible. Go ahead and give it a try."

The golden eyes that were hidden beneath the white helmet started to rapidly blink as that was the method used by Takato to wake up from a nightmare whenever he had them in the past and got some awareness that he was in a nightmare. The blinking lasted for thirty seconds and the scenery in front of him didn't change. "So much for waking up… but now that I'm aware of being in this dream state, I can control it!"

"Lucid dreaming won't work here as well," interrupted the dark knight.

"… the Hazard?"

"Yup. You're pretty much limited to what you can do in the waking world."

With the facts so far being revealed to Gallantmon, he felt depressed enough to fire a moderately powered Shishi Hokudan like that Ryouga guy did in that old manga his dad used to read. "Is there a particular reason why the Hazard is totally screwing me over?"

"Blame the day you found the blue card for the first time. You essentially gave birth to Guilmon and the Hazard on that day. Eventually, a voice in which your darkness could express itself materialized and you can plainly see the results. If you're going to stop me for good, you're going to have to purge the Hazard from existence and that's quite impossible. Now that you're filled in, let's get down to business… Demon's Disaster!!"

"Aw, nuts…" He immediately teleported out of the way to avoid the lightning bolt but his dark counterpart was a step ahead of him as he also teleported to an ideal flanking position to strike Gallantmon's blind side.

"Spiral Wailer!"

'Crap!' He twisted his body to avoid the fast attack and tried to lock down the enemy's weapon with his own lance and shield. Although Gallantmon was able to succeed, ShadowGallantmon's shield was still free and he tried to position it for a close up shot that couldn't miss. His position was far from ideal and he had a tough time trying to line up the shot.

As the two knights struggled, Gallantmon asked another question. "Is Megidramon in on this too?"

ShadowGallantmon laughed. "Why would he care? As long as his primitive needs are met, the rest of the world can go screw themselves as far as he's concerned. And don't count on Casanova coming to help since he's an extension of your soul's lighter half." After he said that last sentence, he forcefully broke free from the grip of the other knight and fired the charged up dark energy from his shield.

"Final Elysian!" The Hazard symbol on the Aegis shield glowed red before blasting through ShadowGallantmon's move and send him flying into one of the high castle towers.

'He'll recover quickly… I really wish I had Grani with… hold it!' He recalled the battle against Metamormon where ShadowGallantmon had absorbed Grani to mode change to his Chaos Mode. Technically, he still has the data in his body… er, Guilmon's body… He groaned as he started getting a headache from all of this. 'May as well give it a shot…'

"Revive, Grani!" Just as ShadowGallantmon got up from that last move, billions upon billions of data particles broke free from his body and flew towards Gallantmon and reformed together as the glider. "It… worked?! Grani, are you alright?" The red machine gave no response. "Grani!!"

"Don't waste your breath. Even though you can force his data out of the host body and reassemble the glider in the waking world, his individuality is long gone."

Gallantmon gave an angry glare at the other Digimon. "At least you won't be able to go back to Chaos Mode without Grani's help!!"

That last line caused the dark knight to laugh as he came back to the ground. "Man, that's a good one!! Hahahaha!!" At the holy knight's puzzled look, he proceeded to explain. "You really don't understand anything, do you? Grani simply acts as a key to unlock extra stages of evolution to whatever host Digimon it grafts upon. Once the door is unlocked, as long as there is sufficient data and power to reach the evolution, there's no reason why a Digimon can't get up to that level. Don't you remember the psycho bitch queen's red Sakuyamon mode?"

"No…" Shock started to register in the holy knight's golden eyes.

"But let me show you myself… ShadowGallantmon mode-change to…" His black armour shifted around and instead of yellow adornments, he had blue adornments. The lance and shield were replaced by a black staff and sword. Blue demonic dragon wings came out of his back and tore his blue cape to shreds. "… Gallantmon Chaos Mode!"

'What in the world?! He looks a lot different from the original Chaos Mode I remember!'

As if he read the other knight's thoughts, Gallantmon Chaos Mode proceeded to explain as he willed away his weapons. "You can say that these are improvements I made to the code of the original Chaos Mode. I also have a number of new moves that I can't wait to try on you… like this one for example! Dementia Chains!!" Black thin energy chains immediately whipped out at Gallantmon from the other knight's outstretched arms.

Gallantmon quickly leapt on Grani and proceeded to blast off in the air while dodging the chains as if they were large serpents. "Yuggoth Blaster!!" Grani fired a projectile towards the chains and upon contact; the chains lost some of their momentum, buying him some time. 'He's playing for keeps… time for me to do a little evolution of my own!' With that in mind, he leapt off Grani and the glider immediately dissipated into data to graft on to Gallantmon and transform him into Crimson Mode. His evolution complete, he dived down at Gallantmon Chaos Mode with Gungnir and Blutgang in his hands.

"If Gleipnir doesn't do it for you, perhaps Tyrfing will!" Summoning his sword and spear set again, Gallantmon Chaos Mode took off like a bullet towards his holy counterpart to meet his challenge.

"Quo Vadis!!"

"Occidio Tyrannus!!"

**OOOOOOOOOO**

The first time had been very strange indeed. And it became hard to tell when exactly would these 'meetings' take place and how long they would last because of the Hazard's chaotic tendencies. Sometimes, he only had to deal with it for twenty minutes while at other times they lasted for just over an hour. The frequency of these meetings was erratic so sometimes three times a week to three times a month.

At times, Takato would have trouble sleeping because of the possibility of getting dream jacked by the dark persona and had to resort to using sleeping pills at times. He also spoke to Renamon about this and ask that she keep this a secret and help him make contingency plans in the event that his other half triumphs. As for his other friends, he tried to keep to himself more often and this strained a number of relationships with his fellow Tamers.

Speaking of his other, he had noticed that over the meetings that followed the first, the dark knight's movements became more erratic. It was as if something was gnawing at him inside and gave him a different type of motivation to fight other than his own ambitions. Sometimes when he crossed swords with his other, he could almost hear his opponent muttering something under his breath as if he was obsessed with what he had said.

Nine months after the first meeting, he finally snapped and Takato learned the big question that his other had been constantly asking.

**OOOOOOOOOO**

CLANG!

The echo of the two blades rang throughout the battlefield but only the combatants could hear it. Gallantmon Crimson Mode's Gungnir was used as his defensive weapon to deflect and block strikes while he kept attacking with Blutgang. His counterpart used a similar approach but his strikes with his sword, Tyrfing, were more precise and because of the sword's properties, the crimson knight had to be really careful as it could cut through his armour rather easily.

He parried a sword strike from his other before hurling Gungnir up several feet to drive one end of the spear into the tower wall. Then he leapt over the dark knight's swing with his own spear and flew to where Gungnir was attached to the wall. 'Finally… a breather…' It would only last for a few seconds but it would have to do. He started channelling energy into his weapons for his next move.

Gallantmon Chaos Mode tossed away his own weapons before he took off in pursuit. "Dementia Chains!!"

The red knight's golden eyes narrowed slightly as he anticipated the timing of his next move. If he was off by even a microsecond, he would be in big trouble as the binding ability of the chains could not be broken short of Ragnarok (Ragnarok here meaning that neither he nor ShadowGallantmon could return to the waking world and Takato would be a brain dead vegetable for the rest of his life). 'Not yet…'

Four metres away… three metres…

'Not yet…'

Two metres… one…

'Now!' He plunged his weapons into the stone and released the energy, causing the stone to explode right between the two knights. Gallantmon Chaos Mode was forced to halt his flight and shield himself from the amount of debris falling from the tower.

"Shit!!"

Seizing the chance to strike, Gallantmon Crimson Mode used the debris as his cover to make his attack. "Final Justice!!" The powerful strike from his weapons sent his dark counterpart to the metaphysical courtyard soil. Dirt clusters flew up as a result of the collision. That last move won't keep his opponent down for long so he landed on the ground to get into a better position.

As the dark knight got up onto his knees, he started mumbling to himself again. "Just how the hell… why…? He's not worthy of that position!!"

"Let me tell you something… I'm weary of this game and I'm getting really annoyed at how you drag me in here at every chance you get… what the hell do I have to do to get you to stop?!"

A maniacal glint could be seen in the blue eyes of Gallantmon Chaos Mode. "You really want to know? Alright… then answer me this little question. How… in the hell… did a weak-willed prick like you... **GET TO BECOME KING OF THIS REALM?!**" As he finished this question, black chains burst up from the ground to flank Gallantmon Crimson Mode. He looked behind himself in alarm before he tried to fly away but the chains were faster than him and ten seconds later, he was bound to the ground.

"Crap!!"

The dark knight caught his breath. "All this time… I never figured out why you were able to be King. But that's going to change now. From now on, I will be King and you will be the Horse."

He struggled against the chains that bound him. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"If there are two beings with the same appearance, ability, power and potential, one becomes the King and the other becomes the Horse. The reason is simply instinct. The person who becomes king needs to want to fight, to want power, and to mercilessly crush his enemies. I've never seen that type of instinct from you. You've always had to rationalize to yourself why you had to fight and restrain yourself from making the final killing blow. I'm not letting someone as weak-willed as you ride on top of me…" As he approached the fallen Holy Knight, he willed his weapons, Gleipnir and Tyrfing, to his hands.

"Well, I'm sorry that I don't live up to your expectations even though I already trust my instincts. If I fought purely as you suggest, then I wouldn't understand the hearts of those I fight. I wouldn't understand their feelings of desperation to live...!" He paused at the last statement. "The feeling of desperation to live... so that's it."

Just as that understanding dawned on Gallantmon Crimson Mode, the chains that bound him dissipated to his dark counterpart's shock. "The hell?!"

The red armoured Digimon rose from the ground. "Everything has the will to live. Ever since the beginning of life, that much has not changed. Before I created Guilmon, you were simply a concept without form in my soul. Then... everything changed in their Digital World when you were given a definitive voice and form through the Control Spires. A true existence. And you would do anything to protect it."

"I don't protect," growled the dark knight.

Gallantmon Crimson Mode merely chuckled once. "Yes, you do. Besides the will to live, everyone has something precious they want to protect. An ideal, a friend, a loved one or one's selfish beliefs... it doesn't matter how you look at it. The need to protect is as much an instinct as the will to live. While I can respect your will to live..."

He blurred out of Gallantmon Chaos Mode's vision and reappeared right beside him with his sword cleanly buried in the right side of his black armour. "... my need to protect my friends and my loved ones from the likes of you is far greater. That is why I am King."

The black knight showed no reaction to the sword in his side or the fact that his lower body started dissipating into data. "I guess it can't be helped. You made a damn good case."

"A compliment? That's rare, coming from you."

Over half of his body had dissipated, leaving only the upper torso. "It's not a compliment. Merely a fact. But know this... if your resolve ever wavers, I will bury you."

"It's not like you will fade away as a memory. Not after all that has happened recently."

"I know. Give my regards to the Queen." Those were his last words as his head vanished.

And Takato woke up.

**OOOOOOOOOO**

"Eeeeuuuggghhh..."

Rika merely rolled her eyes in amusement at her companion's yawning. "I know this is boring but we gotta make sure we know what to do on the wedding day."

In the background, they could hear the wedding coordinator giving out instructions to the ushers and bridesmaids for the rehearsal. "And you will come in exactly one minute after the previous couple has entered..."

"It's not that it's boring. It's just that I had another one of those talks with... him. Regarding KingEtemon that is," murmured Takato quietly.

"Talk as in talk or talk as in a metaphysical death match?"

The young man frowned slightly. "Hey, we can have normal conversations once in a while too. The guy's not so bad once you really get to understand what motivates his behaviour."

"... and I can see that should be enough yapping for today. Let's go through this. The sooner we get this right and down pat, the sooner we can all head to the rehearsal dinner buffet."

A loud "YEAH!" came from nearly every assembled Digimon in the Church along with a few of their human partners.

End Part 4

I guess that's as good a place to end it for now...

Anime North 2008 is coming up so if you want to find me, just keep an eye out for the video gaming area as that's where I will spend quite a bit of time.


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